Hunt for treasures inside the Titanic angers Government
Hunt for Marconi wireless in first expedition within the ship
HIDDEN treasures inside the wreck of the RMS Titanic will be recovered for the first time under controversial plans opposed by the Government, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
A private US company has announced plans to “surgically remove” a deckhouse roof so it can retrieve precious artefacts including a Marconi wireless system described as “the most famous radio in the world”.
Backed by private equity firms, RMS Titanic Inc plans to lead the expedition. It has been the ship’s official “salvor in possession” for nearly 30 years and is the only entity permitted to remove items from the wreck site.
Until now, thousands of items recovered by the company have been retrieved from the debris field around the ship. Taking artefacts from inside the vessel itself would be more significant, and would raise fierce objections from campaigners and families who say the wreck should be left in peace.
But Bretton Hunchak, the president of RMS Titanic Inc, said the ship was deteriorating so quickly that precious items inside the vessel must be rescued for future generations.
“Of course we recognise and respect the tragedy of what happened. But the hard truth is that we need to share what we can see with the rest of the world,” he told The Telegraph.
“The Marconi wireless can teach us so much about the last moments of the Titanic and the heroes who died that night. The ship is deteriorating, if we don’t take action now we’ll be too late.”
The company plans to use underwater robots to remove a section of roof before delicately extracting the radio.
The plan is opposed by the British
‘We recognise and respect the tragedy that happened. But we need to share what we can see with the world’
and US governments which will today unveil an “historic treaty” designed to protect the Titanic from scavengers.
During a visit to Belfast, where the liner was constructed, Nusrat Ghani, the maritime minister, will declare that the Government holds the power to deny licences for exploration and artefact removal.
However, sources at RMS Titanic Inc said the firm intended to “entirely ignore” the British-led agreement because it is bound only by the jurisdiction of US courts.
Under the terms of its official “salvor-in-possession” status, granted in 1993, RMST must secure permission from a judge for every expedition.
Yesterday, the company filed a notice of intent to retrieve the Marconi and hundreds of other Titanic items at the United States district court in Eastern Virginia. The first hearing is due to take place in the spring.